According to the present state of the art there are machines which process only melons and machines used to process only pine-apples; moreover, there are machines used to peel fruits from outside and recently machines have been developed which are capable to peel them from inside and to process both melons and pine-apples, provided these machines are adequately adapted for this task, as described in the Italian utility model application MO2004U000017 filed in Modena on Jul. 28, 2004, in the name of A.B.L. s.r.l. in Cavezzo (Modena), having the title: “Perfezionamenti alle machine pelatrici e detorsolatrici per meloni e ananas” (“Improvements to peeling and coring machines for melons and pine-apples”). In all these machines the fruits are first manually fed by putting them, with an appropriate orientation, onto a support (cup) or “cradle”, where they are seized by pliers or other means in order to process them.
With such working conditions there is a risk that the operator's hands may touch moving members, thereby causing an accident or an injury which may be more or less serious.
An object of the present invention is to provide machine manufacturers with an injury preventing device that avoids any contact of the operator's hands with the moving members of the machine.
A further object is to accelerate the working (that is, processing) rate, or efficiency, by letting the feeding device move in synchronism with the mechanisms of the machine.
Still another object is to adapt the device—by using known means—for permitting its application on any kind of already known peeling-coring machine for melons and pine-apples.
Still another object is to provide an embodiment according to which the device may be incorporated in the machine itself, that is, it may be interconnected with the other mechanisms which form the machine.
A last, but no less important object, is to insure safety during the processing, even if the fruits are deposited manually, thereby avoiding the use of expensive devices capable of automatically orienting the fruits.